The present invention is directed to devices for generating number sets. Specifically, the present invention is directed to devices for generating winning number sets for games such as lotto and keno. Lotto has gained great popularity both in the U.S. and abroad. Today, legal lotto games are conducted in over 35 states and Canadian provinces as well as internationally in over 25 countries.
Lotto is a gambling game in which the wagerer must correctly pick a pre-set quantity of numbers to be drawn from a larger pool of numbers. Keno is a variation of lotto. In keno, a larger quantity of numbers is selected by the player. Winning tickets are paid in instances where either a small or large percentage of the numbers selected by the player are drawn. For example, New York state conducts a keno game in which the player selects 10 numbers from a number pool containing 80 numbers. Twenty numbers are then drawn from the pool. The player wins varying cash prizes if he has correctly selected either between 0-3 of the drawn numbers or between 7-10 of the drawn numbers. No payment is awarded is awarded if the player has selected 4, 5, or 6 of the 20 drawn numbers.
In most modern lotto and keno games, the player fills out computer coded cards with selected number combinations. The cards are then presented to an authorized lottery dealer. Lotto tickets containing the one or more selected number sets are then generated by a computerized ticket generator and purchased by the player. Lotto ticket generators typically contain random number generators, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,502, for randomly selecting number sets for players who do not choose to pick their own number combinations.
At the time of the drawing (which is televised in many jurisdictions), the numbers (usually printed on balls) are withdrawn from a pool using number selection devices such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,583,736, 4,796,890 and 4,813,676. The balls are drawn without replacement (i.e., after a particular number is drawn, it is not returned to the pool and cannot be redrawn). If a preset number of the withdrawn balls correspond to the numbers preselected by the player on a particular ticket, the player wins a cash prize.
Currently existing lotto and keno games pay cash awards in instances where a player picks all of the drawn numbers (corresponding to a jackpot) as well as in instances where the player picks a percentage of the selected numbers (e.g. 3, 4 or 5 out of 6). In addition, different lotto games have varying pool sizes and draw different quantities of numbered balls. For example, Florida conducts a lotto game in which six numbered balls are drawn from a forty-nine number pool, and in which a player will win a cash prize of varying value if he has correctly picked 3, 4, 5, or all 6 of the ultimately drawn numbers. Delaware sponsors a lottery in which six numbered balls are drawn from a thirty-six number pool and in which cash payouts are awarded for each card containing 4, 5, or 6 of the drawn numbers. Pennsylvania currently conducts a lottery in which eleven (11) numbers are drawn from an eighty (80) number pool for which cash prizes are paid out if the player has correctly selected between four and seven numbers of the eleven numbers drawn.
The fact that the lotto and keno numbers are drawn without replacement makes it possible for a player to maximize his or her odds. Specifically it is possible for a player to maximize his odds by playing a plurality of non-repetitive lotto tickets, each containing different number combinations.
For several decades, it has been known that with the aid of so-called partial "wheeling" formulas, it is possible to generate a plurality of non-repetitive number sets which maximize the spread of the combination sets. To date, there have been several books and other products containing partial wheeling systems on the market. While the systems disclosed in these books are advertised as the most effective method of maximizing winning number combinations, these "partial" systems have several serious flaws. First, "partial" wheeling systems are just that, they are partial. Accordingly, they only cover a small percentage of a total number system. For example, many currently available systems wheel 12, 14 or perhaps 16 numbers. Such systems are hardly useful for the 49 number Florida or California lotteries and cover less than one-half of the numbers in the comparatively small 36 number Delaware lottery. Success with all "partial" wheeling systems is therefore wholly dependant upon the presumption that the winning numbers fall within the small grouping of preselected numbers "partially" wheeled by the player. Secondly, the "partial" systems disclosed in these products are often confusing to use and typically require the player to complete a complex number grid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,863 discloses an electronic lottery number generator which generates lotto number sets utilizing a partial wheeling system. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,863 utilizes prestored sets which only utilize between 8 and 18 numbers of a 42, 46 or 49 number lottery set. The player picks his own numbers which are effectively overwritten on pre-generated and pre-stored number combination sets and copied out. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,863 exemplifies the problems associated with partial wheeling systems. This device only utilizes a portion of the numbers in the complete set (maximum of 18). The device disclosed in this patent therefore does not and cannot (and makes no claim to) guarantee that the selected lotto number combinations will provide winning combinations. Further, the device in this patent does not actually generate lotto number sets. All of the number sets are pre-generated and stored in memory.
The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods, including a unique minimization algorithm, for generating complete lottery combination sets which guarantee that a player will win at least one winning combination (at a non-jackpot prize level) with the minimum possible investment. The minimization algorithm utilizes every number in a respective lottery pool and makes it possible for players to generate complete combination sets for lotteries having any size number pool. The present invention is specifically designed to permit the player to generate complete combination sets for all lotto and keno type games such as the currently existing Pick 5, Pick 6, Pick 7, and Pick 10 games, and further provides the ability to program the system with new lotto games as they come into existence.
It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide a device which generates winning lotto sets which guarantee a winning lotto combination for a selected sub-jackpot prize level.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device which generates winning lottery combinations and which utilizes every number in a respective lotto or keno number pool.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device which generates winning lottery combinations with a mathematically minimum number of combinations.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device which generates lotto numbers, and then stores the numbers to be printed out or transmitted via transmission lines to a remote location.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a device for generating lotto combinations which can be stored, transmitted, or fed into a lotto ticket generator.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a lotto number generator which can interface directly with a lotto ticket generator.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a device which can be programmed to generate winning lottery combinations for a variety of lotto and keno games.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent from the description which follows.